The San Juans belong to the Puget
Sound AVA (American Viticultural Area), a
federally designated grape-growing region.
Lying at the cool extreme of viticultural
survival, the islands experience a short,
sweet summer, amplified by long hours
of sunlight. While some local winemakers
truck in grapes from eastern Washington,
others tackle the chilly challenges of island
viticulture. Cool-weather vinifera that thrive
include Madeleine Angevine (a white grape
from France’s Loire Valley) and Siegerrebe
(a cross between Madeleine Angevine and
Gewürztraminer).

Just as locavores celebrate regionally
grown foods, “loca-pour” enthusiasts seek
wines grown near their home zip codes.
“Let’s do a wine odyssey,” I suggest to Risa
for our annual summer cruise in the San
Juans. “We’ll check out island wineries and
see what the restaurants are up to.” My wife
was onboard, literally and figuratively.

60 | BoatU.S. MagazineWine On The Wa TerWe trailer Freelance north to Bellinghamand embark from Squalicum Marina inAugust, on a week where the weather chartshows cheerful yellow suns glowing eachday. Instead of foreboding wine-dark seas,we encounter cat’s paws ruffling a calmBellingham Bay, as we embark on our odys-sey for the week — to explore a differentvineyard each day, return to the quiet of ourboat each evening after dinner, and get afresh start each morning.

900 residents, tiny Lummi Island across
from Peter’s boutique winery makes an
unlikely hot spot for epicures. In fact, in all
my years cruising the San Juans, I’ve never
stopped here. But Risa informs me we’ve got
to go, and we fire up the engine and head off
across the water. The reason: the arrival of
Blaine Wetzel at Willows Inn in 2011. The
25-year-old wünderchef previously worked
in Copenhagen at Noma, which was cited
as the best restaurant in the world by the
British magazine Restaurant. Originally from
Olympia, Washington, Wetzel wanted to
return to the Northwest; he learned about